The administration of George W. Bush, with its faith-based mission, is seen by many as a radical departure from the main- stream of American politics. But in fact it is no more than a continuation, in a mildly extreme form, of what has gone before. Bush has changed the typeface, but not the layout, on the front page of the American Dream to continue remaking the world in his country's self-aggrandized image.
This hit me recently when I reread "Nancy: The Autobiography of America's First Lady," written by Nancy Reagan and published in 1981.
There we find a person whose vision for the United States almost entirely matches that of the neoconservatives who have manipulated the nation since 2000. She writes of her strong desire to ban all abortions and to compel pupils to pray in public schools. She is proud of the fact that her husband, as governor of California, executed criminals. She calls it "immoral," a telling word in this context, that the United States lost the war in Vietnam.